Standards are necessary for interoperability, but are they sufficient? Can open standards be enough so that commitment to a Knowledge Commons is not necessary?
Because if all that is needed is some more open and accepted standards, for interfaces, protocols, etc. then the statement "The "Internet of Things" cannot happen without a true Knowledge Commons" is false.
Open standards are aplenty, and as "open" they are non-proprietary, available to all who wish to implement them. Or is it that simple? site 
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More likely the knowledge commons and the internet of things are just handles we can use today to talk about something that will happen tomorrow.
What is most important to understand is that we are all a party to the happening and must pay careful attention to details of how systems work that could be safely ignored for most of our previous lives.